Dance

Fishin’ In The Dark – The Best Of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Rick France 1987, 1988, Classical, Country , , ,
Fishin’ In The Dark
The Best Of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

The song “Fishin’ In The Dark” was the last number one hit for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. First appearing on Hold On in 1987, but I never had a copy until their greatest hits CD years later. I was more interested in their songs that received a little more airplay on the stations I grew up on in Chattanooga back in the 70’s; WFLI, WGOW & KZ106. Songs like “Mr. Bojangles”, “American Dream” and “Make A Little Magic” and yes I know the latter was 1980, but I was Class Of 1980 at Tyner High School so cut me some slack – it counts as the 70’s as far as I’m concerned. Those songs defined The Dirt Band to me, and up until I met Kathy those three songs were pretty much all I knew about the band. Boy was I in for a rude awakening.

After she finally said, “Yes” in late November of 1987, we started making plans for not just our wedding but our lives together. One of our first dilemmas revolved around season tickets. I am a rocker at heart, but I am primarily a “Prog Rocker”. One side effect of Progessive Rock is a love for Classical Music and I had season tickets to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Kathy had season tickets to Lanierland Music Park which had been providing country music fans their country fix since the early 70’s. Needless to say, I had never heard of the place. We both came to the conclusion that we couldn’t keep both sets of tickets and so a decision was made to meet in the middle. Kathy loved ballet and since the Atlanta Symphony played for the Atlanta Ballet we decided to get season tickets to the Atlanta Ballet from that point forward. In my opinion, I was coming out on top in this deal.

After our wedding, since the season for both venues was drawing near an end, we decided to sell those few remaining tickets we had save for one pair to each. Kathy had no preference with the symphony and since I favor strings over brass my favorite classical composer is Mendelssohn, and the Atlanta Symphony was featuring Mendelssohn and Gorski in one of the remaining concerts which is what I chose. For Lanierland, Kathy suggested I might like Restless Heart and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. I had heard one Restless Heart song that sort of sounded like pre-Hotel California Eagles but mainly visions of “Make A Little Magic” and “American Dream” made me go, “yeah, I think that would be a pretty good concert.” So the decision was made, tickets set aside, and date nights established.

The two concerts were a few weeks apart and first up was the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Kathy and I got all dressed up for this one; one of the few times that I put on a coat and tie. I can clean up nicely from time to time, but she on the other hand looked stunning. We had a nice dinner beforehand in Roswell and then made our way to downtown Atlanta for the symphony. I had pretty good seats right in the middle about 30 rows back and the place was packed with everyone in their Sunday best. They first performed Mendelssohn and after a brief intermission finished the night with Gorski. During the intermission most everyone left the auditorium, but we remained behind with a few others. I asked Kathy what she thought so far and she said, “It’s good, but I like violins better when they’re fiddles.”

This one lady that looked like an old schoolmarm about four rows in front of us turned around slowly and pulled her glasses down on her nose and gave us a look that could stop a train. As she turned back around we both cracked up, but the comment and schoolmarm was engrained in our psyche from that day forward to be referenced whenever the situation allowed. The rest of the evening with my new beautiful bride was wonderful with the exception of Kathy standing at the finale and waving a lighter in the air while yelling “Free Bird!” OK, maybe she didn’t really stand up and yell, but it is still one of my favorite jokes to tell regarding that evening.

Next up was Lanierland. I must admit it was much more my style of a blue jean date night. Lanierland Music Park was a fairly small venue so they would have two shows each night of the same bands and our tickets were for the second show. I have been blamed for being cheap and my car at that time fit that bill. It was a white Nissan Sentra straight-shift that had no air conditioning and no radio. We arrived at Lanierland with the windows down on a cool summer evening thanks to the wind blowing off of Lake Lanier. I could tell it was going to be a cool night to enjoy this little “American Dream”, and then without warning – IT HAPPENED! As we pulled up to park the car the first thing I heard was, “You and me goin’ fishin’ in the dark. Lying on our backs and counting the stars where the cool grass grows.”

In total shock I said, “What in the world is that?” I was hoping that the first show was a completely different band.

Unfortunately, Kathy responded with, “That’s Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.”

I’m thinking, “No it’s not! It can’t be! Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is 70’s Rock and that’s not 70’s Rock” but all Kathy did was laugh at me because of the pathetic look on my face.

What I found out real quick was simply this; it ain’t the 70’s no more and this was not my childhood Dirt Band! Nitty Gritty was full blown country and this evening was not going to be “Make A Little Magic” – this evening was “Fishin’ In The Dark” and the two were not the same. I came real close to turning that car around and leaving, but I was quickly reminded by the voices in my head that it was my idea to take her to the symphony and then to this, this, whatever it was. I was here and there was no way of escape.

Oh sure, they did a medley of those 70’s hits – a medley – not the whole songs – a medley. Thank God they did “Mr. Bojangles” in its entirety, but even those 70’s songs seemed to have a bit more of a country twist on them than I remembered. All I can say is I felt more like a fish out of water in the dark than anything else remotely close to that evening. I had been to a lot of concerts at this point in my life, but none had prepared me for this night of music.

Still, I looked at this beautiful woman standing beside me singing every word to every song. The smile on her face as she danced and swayed to the music and all I could think was that I was the luckiest man alive. The style of music may not have been to my taste at that time, but that night was more than I could ever imagine. I was in love with this country music loving girl and there was no place on earth that I would rather be than right there with her. Crickets were singin’ and lightning bugs were floatin’ on the breeze and it felt so good to be right there with her and I would do it again right now if the opportunity arose.

What can I say? She’s a little bit country and I’m a little bit rock n’ roll. They say opposites attract and you can’t get more opposite than the two of us. I’ve always said and maintain to this day that if two people are just alike then one of them is unnecessary. Through the years, I have grown to enjoy and appreciate some of Kathy’s country music which is probably something I would never have done on my own accord. Plus, “Fishin’ In The Dark” has become our unofficial song because every time we hear it one of us will always say, “they’re playing our song.”

Might I suggest that next time you and the one you love look up and see a lazy yellow moon shinin’ through the trees that you take a little walk across the fields down to where the creek turns back and try a little Fishin’ In The Dark.

Rick E. France

 

State Of Independence – Jon and Vangelis

Rick France 1987, 1988, 1991, 1993, 2004, Electronic, Prog Rock , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
State Of Independence
Jon and Vangelis

In 1991 my daughters, Katie and Melissa, were taking dance at Rose Barile’s Alpharetta Dance Theatre (ADT). That year for the Senior Company, which my daughters were too young for at the time, Rose had choreographed a liturgical dance to the song “State Of Independence” which I had the pleasure of watching on several occasions. Being a huge fan of Yes since the album Fragile, I recognized Jon Anderson’s voice right off the bat. Initially I thought it was from a Yes album that I might have missed, but soon discovered it was from a Jon and Vangelis album entitled The Friends of Mr Cairo. This particular song along with Rose’s dance became a staple in my life in more ways than one. As a result this song has multiple storylines as well as timelines in my life but in order to get the full story we must step back in time a bit to the time where it all began with a close family friend, Jennifer Williams, who was also dancing at ADT.

In 1987, before Kathy and I got married, I was doing a weekly Bible Study at her house with the teens from Antioch Christian Church where Kathy attended. I was in the band ForeSight and my hair was halfway down my back and permed like most any 80’s hair band guitarist of the day. My hair was as wide as my shoulders and it was BIG! I was in my second year of discipleship with Jack Vandiver and he use to crack this joke all the time about people having an attitude of “Turn or Burn, Try or Fry, Shake or Bake” that I thought was quite funny. So I had this car tag airbrushed that had a Bible in the upper left corner and flames in the lower right corner with the words “Turn or Burn”. I’m sure everyone doesn’t see the humor that I saw in this or even see any good coming from it, but one time I pulled over on I 85 to help this girl who had a flat and she told me that the only reason she let me help her was because of this tag.

Anyways, Kathy was already friends with the Williams family which consisted of Brenda and her three children Jennifer, Ben and Lindsey but the first one I met was Jen, a young teen at the time that Kathy had invited to the Bible Study. I remember when she came in she had quite an attitude and opinion already formed regarding me. She obviously did not want to be there and beyond huffing and puffing at pretty much everything I said, she did not participate in the discussion and was quick to leave as soon as the opportunity arose. Later, Kathy informed me that she was quite offended by my car tag and as a result had no interest in anything I had to say. I never told Jen this before, but I actually removed that tag because of her. I never intended to offend her or anyone else and I was not going to let a car tag cause anyone to stay away from Christ. Needless to say, I never saw her again at the Bible Study but our lives would connect again a couple of years later.

Kathy and I were married on February 13, 1988, and we still live in the same house of that Bible Study. Right before we got married, my hairdresser bride-to-be talked me into cutting my hair which endeared her to my mom for life. We were married at Promised Land Bible Church (PLBC) where I soon became the Youth Pastor and began working with the teens of LightForce. I’m not sure exactly what year the Williams family became a part of PLBC, but Ben was one of the teens that we built the youth group on. However, my relationship with Ben is a story for another day.

By 1991, Jen had become a pretty important part of our lives both at ADT where Jen, in my opinion, was an accomplished ballerina as well as at PLBC. While she did not regularly attend LightForce, most likely due to her being a Junior in High School and most the teens were Ben’s age and therefore just kids, she did attend PLBC regularly and was involved in many special events we did. One of my favorite things she did with us, which I still have on VHS, was our Youth Sunday on May 19, 1991. We reenacted an Isaac Air Freight skit named “Let’s Trade Your Salvation” and Jen played the part of Carol Barrel. The host of the show, Monty Lucifer (played by Philip Gard), would try to get Bernadette Weiser (played by Amanda Ayers) to trade her little bag of Salvation (which contained a Bible) for various prizes. At one point Jen stood beside a crock pot, in first position of course, and pointed to it while Jay Tatellyaboutit (played by Lee Stewart) said, “This is no ordinary crock pot Monty, but a Spiegel crock pot. If you want to get crocked tonight this is the pot for you. That’s Spiegel, Chicago 666, Illinois.” In hindsight, probably not the best line for a Sunday morning. Jen, or rather Carol Barrel, later modeled a mink coat for Bernadette (that wasn’t mink) while standing in third position – because you can take the ballerina out of the ballet but you can’t take the ballet out of the ballerina.

Kathy and I had season tickets to the Atlanta Ballet back then, but I mainly went to hear the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra perform. I never really appreciated ballet until we started going to watch Jen perform with ADT. She was a beautiful dancer and it was watching her perform that caught my attention and developed my appreciation for ballet and dance. Watching Jen and the work she put into it; the grace in which she danced, it was like a light came on in me. I finally saw the beauty and the art of dance all come together in her. The first time I saw her and the Senior Company perform “State Of Independence”, well that was all it took for me to be hooked once and for all. Those flowing white dresses and the precision of those young ladies as they interpreted that song was one of the most beautiful, artistic dances I have ever witnessed. Years later when I began to dream and work on my own Christmas production of “The Star”, that dance influenced the vision I had for the angels and the white flowing dresses that we used for the angels. Just as in the dance that Jen was a part of, the angels would hold the hem of their skirts and spread them out to form their wings as they would dance in “The Star”.

As with all things in life, the winds of change come and go. In 1993 this young lady spread her own wings and moved to New York City where she still lives today. The rest of her family moved to Oklahoma that same year. We remained in touch and from time to time they would come home to visit. I know it was mainly because their dad still lives here, but I like to think that they came to see us too.

By 2004, Ben was living in Tennessee, Jen was still in New York and Brenda and Lindsey were in Oklahoma, but that summer they all came to Hickory Flat at the same time for a little reunion that we got to be a part of. Our living room was packed with both families and we were laughing and reminiscing for hours on end. Jen mentioned she had just turned 30 and I was shocked because to me she was still this young teenage girl. I commented that there was no way she was “that old”. She acted like I had offended her by calling her old and played that card quite a bit that week as I recall.

The following Sunday after church we all went to Ryan’s to eat before they headed home. I was sitting directly across from Jen when she piped up and said, “Kathy, whatever happened to that long haired jerk you were dating that was doing that Bible Study at your house?” No one said a word or rather no one could even get in a word edgewise as Jen went on what seemed like a 10 minute tirade about how she couldn’t stand that jerk and how awful he was and yadda, yadda, yadda. When she finally did stop I just smiled and said, “She married him.”

Her eyes got as big as the moon. Her mouth dropped wide open and she exclaimed, “Nooooooo!”

We got a lot of stares due to the amount of laughter at our table over the next few minutes and truth be known, I am quite thankful she never realized until that moment that I was the same person. If she would have known that, I might not have ever had such a sweet friend as her for all these years. I quite possibly would not have appreciated my own daughters’ dance, and as a result I might have missed out on those early years of their dance due to my own ignorance. I might have never even thought of using dancers to portray the angels in “The Star” and that production would have fallen short of the beauty and wonder that it became. I might have never had the relationship with Ben and Brenda and Lindsey that means so much to me to this day. My life would have been a whole lot different and contained a lot less laughter and had far fewer memories to treasure without this beautiful dancer if she had put two and two together.

This song is on my phone to this day in my favorite “Prog Playlist” which I listen to more than any other play list. Every time this song comes on I envision the Senior Company and Jennifer dancing to it. I still see the white skirts flowing to the beat of the song and the exquisite performance of the routine. As I watch her dance in my mind’s eye, I lift her up in prayer every single time and the thought of her always changes my countenance for the better. You see, she still brings joy to my life as the flood of memories pass before me. I still appreciate everything about her both then and now because my life was blessed to watch this beautiful dancer grow from a young, obstinate teen into her own beautiful State Of Independence.

Rick E. France

Imagine This

Rick France 1994, Alternative, Hard Rock , , , , , ,
Imagine This

The self-titled debut of Imagine This is pretty difficult to define. Hard rock is what I generally think of first but it has an alternative feel and shades of disco and even some rap, but overall it just plain rocks. It also contains a couple of songs that were probably an attempt to get a little airplay on Christian radio. Usually when I grabbed this CD it was because I was in the mood for some good, hard rockin’ songs with catchy melodies and hooks. Most of the time when I would hit those slower, almost power ballad types of songs, I would just skip them and go on to the next track. “Bishop of Souls” was one of those songs. Little did I know that this song would become not only my favorite song on the CD, but it would be part of such a major impact on my life.

It was Thursday, September 1, 1994. I had recently been laid off from Von Roll only a month earlier and decided to start my own business. I was in my car doing something business related that I can’t recall, but I was listening to this CD when Kathy called me to let me know that her grandmother, whom I only knew as Mamaw, had passed away. She was 93 years old. As I headed back to the house I remember I first prayed for a little while but then decided to turn the music back on to distract my mind. The CD was right at the chorus of “Bishop of Souls” and the first thing I heard was this:

Oh, the Bishop of my soul is calling me home

The song instantly became real to me and over the next several weeks I listened to this song almost exclusively.

Kathy and I had only been married a little over six years at that time. Our house is on family property that Mamaw and Papaw had given her parents and they in turn gave her. I never knew Papaw personally since he passed away before I was a part of the family, but their house was just up the drive within a short walking distance and we pass by it every day. It’s a small house but full of big memories for the entire family. The Bobos are special. Mamaw and Papaw had three sons and two daughters, and I will not even attempt to tell you how many grandkids and great-grandkids. Kathy’s uncle James moved to Texas long before we were married and all of his kids were already grown and had families of their own, yet every year a good number of them would make the trek to Georgia, spread out amongst the family and we would have this huge family reunion at Mamaw’s house. Even when the Texas Bobos were not in town the Georgia Bobos would regularly get together at that little house.

We have so many pictures of the entire family sitting on that front porch; each photo revealing the family’s growth in age as well as numbers. We all could not fit in the house so that front porch and yard was our gathering place. In that yard around that big old oak tree we played wiffle ball, frisbee, passed footballs and baseballs while watching the kids play tag and other games. We ate, caught up on all the family news that we already knew anyways and just had some of the best times of our lives together. Mamaw would just sit and watch and laugh at our antics and the air was full of everyone’s laughter. The seats next to Mamaw were never vacant and on a constant rotation of family members of all ages.

Since we lived so close to Mamaw, we would visit her quite often. Kathy and the kids more than me but still I remember spending quite a bit of time with her. I really never got the chance to speak with her much because Kathy is a hair dresser so she does most the talking. Still I would watch her and listen to her. I loved to watch her play with the girls and Stephen. She had this big rubber ball that she kept and toddler Stephen would sit in the floor and pass it back and forth to her the whole time we were visiting. According to adult Stephen, he still has that ball. I also remember watching her softly applaud as Katie and Melissa would show her their latest dance moves they had learned. I found these acts pretty amazing because it was obvious to me at that time in her life that her hands were in constant pain.

From the pain, the Bishop of my soul is calling me home

What beautiful hands she had. Sure, they were old and wrinkled and as I said, I could tell by the way she would rub them and the look on her face that they were the source of much pain. Yet you could see in her hands years and years of working the land, preparing chickens from the coop to the stove to the table, dealing with James, Geneva and Harold (which was a full time job in itself from what I’ve heard), and feeding the road workers from the prison when they would stop to rest in her yard. Those hands did not have the luxuries of microwaves and instant pots. Yet those hands were so gentle with each of us. Those hands had spent hours on end flipping through one of the most well-worned bibles I have ever seen. I believe those hands had actually touched the hem of her Savior’s garment. Those hands were the hands of Jesus because she treated each and every person as if they were His hands. What Would Jesus Do? Mamaw didn’t have to ask that question; she just did.

I’d see her look at me
Her eyes were icons of a faith I’d never known

I don’t recall any particular conversation with Mamaw, but what I do remember are her eyes when she talked to me. She truly had a faith I’ve never known and you could see it in her eyes. When she talked to me it was as if she was looking way beyond me and deep into my soul. It felt like she was sitting in the lap of Jesus and in her mind she was talking to Him about me. You could feel her prayers when you were in her presence. She could be talking about anything that wasn’t even spiritual and yet I could sense God’s Spirit pricking me and encouraging me just by being there. Her eyes smiled all the time and they were the eyes of grace. No condemnation; nothing to worry about; just eyes of grace resulting from a deep seated faith. A faith that knew who she was in Christ and saw who I could be if I would just let go and take that leap of faith into His loving arms right there beside her.

Finally free from the shackles of a dying world
They say she sang with the voice of an angel that day

As I drove by her house on my way home today and I was listening to this song, as always it brought tears to my eyes. Not because of that porch sitting empty or the missing oak tree that lightning stole away from us and not because of the loss of Mamaw. She’s where we all truly long to be, with Jesus. She truly has escaped the cares and pain of this world and is singing with angels at this very moment. She is in the great cloud of witnesses right there with all our loved ones that have gone on before us cheering us on. I believe she is even still talking to Jesus about all of her family and lifting us up in supplication at this very moment. No, the tears now are because of my own shortcomings. I long to have the faith of Mamaw; I long to have the grace of Mamaw; I long to walk as close to Christ as Mamaw did. She was an example to us all of what being a Christian really is.

I have several of those grey haired ladies and men in my life with calluses on their knees from the hours they have spent in prayer and I am sure each one of you can testify to the same. Right now I ask that you think about those little ol’ prayer warriors from your past that you knew, loved and respected that have gone on before you. That one person that you knew you could go talk to about anything and you knew they meant it when they said they would pray for you. Picture that one in your mind and all the traits that influenced you when they were here with you and how they still influence you even today. Picture the Mamaw of your life. The writer of Hebrews 6:12 said to be “imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”

Now imagine what this world would be like if you and I became imitators of “The Mamaw” you are picturing in your mind. Imagine what would happen if we began to show the love of Christ as Mamaw did. Imagine what your family would become if we began to practice the walk, the patience, the strength, the courage, the grace, the faith and the love of Mamaw. Imagine what impact the body of Christ would have on this world if we each put our faith into action like this. If we would just do this, we would probably find that it really is not that difficult to Imagine This!

Rick E. France